Engagement Tips for Virtual Webinars
Participating in virtual webinars is a common occurrence now, with the pandemic not allowing in-person events, is a great way to learn and engage. Whether you’re a full time student or working professional, most of our days may be virtual. An understandable obstacle with webinars can be how to stay engaged when you’ve been glued to a computer all day.
Let’s talk about some tips to use to not only stay engaged during the webinar, but how to take away key points as well.
Research the Speaker and Topic Beforehand
When you sign up for a webinar, you know the general information for the event. However, it’s always a good idea to research who will be talking and the general idea of what will be discussed. The topic can be searched on Google or popular industry related websites. For example, HubSpot has insightful blogs related to marketing, sales, etc. so those could be great resources for business orientated webinars.
For the speaker, social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter are beneficial to learning the experience, interests and overall background of a speaker. Researching prior to the webinar can also prompt for possible questions to ask during the event.
Create a Notes Document
Whether it’s opening a Word document on your laptop or writing on a notepad, have materials ready to take notes. Although it’s important to be in the moment, it’s also important to record impactful quotes or tips to remember for later. Creating a notes document will keep you accountable for being actively engaged instead of staring at the screen and hoping to catch useful information.
Keep Up on Social Media
Sometimes during webinars, there will be live tweeting from the audience. For GVPRSSA in particular, live tweeting takes place weekly with #PRThursday. If you attend an event that shares a hashtag to live tweet with, have Twitter open on your laptop or phone. Keeping up with the live tweets can allow for dialogue between you and other audience members as well as posting tips or quotes that you may have missed.
Ask Questions
If you’ve done research prior to the webinar, you may have questions written up for the speaker that can be asked if the event allows for a Q & A section. During the speaker if you’re writing notes and come across a question, record it and ask if the opportunity arises. Especially now that events are widely virtual, speakers want to feel like they’re truly being heard - so prove you care about what they have to say by asking more.
Highlight Key Points After
After the webinar is over, go through your notes and mark the ones that stood out the most to you personally. Highlighting valuable information that you took away from the event can allow you to more easily implement that advice or certain practices into your life - whether it be professional or personal. As sharp as your memory may be, notes prove to be helpful in the future.
Virtual events are going to be the new normal for a while, so we may as well learn how to make the most of them. All of these tips will be a great start to your success at attending, engaging and benefitting from webinars. Practice makes perfect, so create a notes document during your next virtual event and see where the wind takes you - it could pay off soon.
About Sam:
Sam is a senior at Grand Valley State University studying Advertising and Public Relations with a minor in Spanish. Sam is currently serving as Social Media Director on the GVPRSSA Executive Board. This is Sam’s second semester on the GrandPR staff as an Account Associate. She is also a Digital Marketing Intern at RED66 Marketing in Grand Rapids. Sam’s dream job is to work for a cruelty-free cosmetic or skincare company in their public relations team. Some of the things Sam enjoys in life are her dogs Cody and Snoopy, coffee and scrolling through TikTok.